A Beautiful Mind
by Euphora Borealis
Summary: Derpy Hooves, the lovable clutzy character who has won the hearts of a many a Brony, however there is a more tragic story to the character, a past and journey that transformed the mare that would change her life, and test not only her will, her love but also her sanity.
1. Chapter 1

A Beautiful Mind

by: Euphora-Borealis

Authors note: Hello, thank you for taking your time to read my fanfiction based off of the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic property. This work is that of fiction, and in no way do I claim any ownership over the properties, or trademarked characters. This is my first time posting fanfiction, and thought this would be a good idea to explore Derpy Hooves past in a more realistic manner, as to why is she the way she is. This was really just meant to be a excerpt, but if anyone wishes me to continue with the longer story I had planned out, feel free to let me to know, otherwise, enjoy the fic!

-Euphora Borealis.

"Miss…hooves?" The blonde haired mare stared off into the middle distance for some time, she was processing what the doctor had told her, but it just wasn't connecting. Derpy sat upright upon the stainless steel examining table, her front hooves clasping each other in her lap. She wore a white hospital gown wrapped around her body, her hair was pulled back into a pony tail, and the look on her face was emotionless, and stoic. "Miss Hooves." The voice pulled the mare away from her thoughts, with a shake of her head she turned to the older Stallion, her eyes focusing on the white beard that flowed from him chin, her mind once more doing that…. that thing, what did he call it again? Her concentration seemed to lock back into place as the doctor started speaking again.

"Do you understand your condition Miss Hooves?" The blonde mare nodded her head slowly, fixating on his words carefully, taking each in and imagining it, transferring its meaning, for each and every word, it was becoming a exhausting affair. " I… Understand," The mare finally spoke, her attention refocusing and she seemed to become normal once more, if only for a moment.

" Good. Now since this is a progressive disease, symptoms will eventually become worse and worse, perhaps slowly…." The doctor frowned. "…most likely not however…" He added at the end, not wanting to give the mare no hope whatsoever, but he wasn't a liar, and a patient trusted in their doctor implicitly, no matter the situation, and that trust wasn't to be broken. " There is some medications we can give you however, these may slow the symptoms and the progression of the disease to a snails pace, but don't get me wrong Miss Hooves, this isn't a "if" situation, its a when. Its also a HOW, situation." Derpy tilted her head, looking at her doctor. "How?" she repeated. The doctor nodded. "Yes how, How will you use the remaining time you have with your current mental strength? How will it affects your plans in the future? How will you plan to take care of yourself in the future?" Derpy stayed quiet, for the remainder of the the doctors speech, it wasn't due to her having a episode either, not like how the doctor figured, but the mare's mind had always seemed to wander far off, it was something they noticed in the Pegasi when she was only a filly, she was intelligent for her age, remarkably so.

From before she could remember, she was always…curious, her mother had told her she always got into things as a baby, then they noticed her ability to differentiate colors, recognize shapes and her reasoning skills were off the charts, but she always had one flaw… her mind would begin to work overtime doctors had discovered, her brain activity was off the charts, and she became well known in the medical field as the Genius Filly. She learned to speak and read years before anyone of her comparable age, when physically capable, she learned to write and soon after, arithmetic followed. By the time those of her age were doing basic math, Derpy was already achieving high marks in pre-algebra, and geometry. There was a problem however, boredom got the best of the young mare. If she wasn't challenged, if her brain, due to its high levels of comprehension, wasn't given the appropriate amount of stimulation, it would slow down to a crawl. This was accompanied by Derpys most embarrassing traits. When Derpy would descend into these fits of metal lethargy, her mind would literally shut down, her thoughts would cease, and subconscious control over her physical body, such as motor skills, the position of her eyes and speech would be affected. She would become increasingly clumsy, her IQ would be that barely of a child, and her eyes crossed, giving the appearance of a seriously mentally handicapped individual. This was a personal hell for the young mare, and as one could guess, she did everything in her power to keep herself mentally busy. This usually kept her far from the personal life that most mares her age enjoyed, relationships, friendship, fun, but that wasn't part of the plan, and it didn't fit in the equation.

It seemed to her, however, that fate dealt cruel hands to the just and the unjust alike. 3 weeks previous is when the symptoms began to start, it wasn't something she had ever experienced before or ever wished to again. The first symptoms were headaches, which every-pony experienced once in awhile, so it wasn't something that caught her attention as some aspirin usually did the trick. It didn't stop there however, the headaches got worse, followed shortly thereafter by migraines, and bouts of her inability to focus. She thought perhaps it was simply too much studying, after all she had received a tuition to one of Equestria's most prestigious universities, the University of Canterlot, it was either that or go out of the country to Coltcutta. She wasn't however, leaving her home in Ponyville, it was her fear of having a episode in some strange place that frightened her the most, she could loose herself, and then who knows what would happen then.

"Miss Hooves…" The doctor said one last time impatiently, he had repeated himself several times now, and he was loosing his patience, however he wouldn't take it out on the mare, she would have enough troubles soon enough. This time Derpy immediately looked at the Doctor, nodding and sliding off of the table, frowning as she adjusted the hospital gown. " I understand Doctor, its a progressive mental disease, symptoms include gradual mental deterioration, and eventually the disease will become the norm." The doctor nodded slowly, pushing her prescription towards her with his hoof. "Remember to take your medication, AS prescribed, no more, no less." He warned her with his stern voice.

Derpy thanked the doctor, got herself dressed and found her way out of the hospital, waiting for her in the lobby was her mother, Ditzy. She approached cautiously, she knew how her daughter was, methodical, and non emotional, except of course when her condition set in. Ditzy looked very much like her daughter, or perhaps the other way around. There were some facial exceptions, but besides the faded blonde hair that held streaks of white from years of fighting with her ex husband, and the long hours she worked raising Derpy on her own, saving money she couldn't afford to save for the education she knew her daughter deserved. Well, after all these years, life had taken its toll on Ditzy. As much as she loved her daughter, their relationship had always been a very… professional one to say the least. Her daughter didn't convey much emotions, almost none at all. She couldn't remember the last time she hugged her daughter, or heard her say. "I love you". She would never admit it aloud, but when her daughter did have her episodes, even though the mare was incredulous and clumsy, and not very bright, she felt like she had the daughter that was hidden into the methodical mare, hugs…kisses, all those things a parent should have as memories.

Ditzy resisted the urge to tear, gulping away the lump in her throat and trotted slowly after her daughter. " Did they…?" Ditzy began, but Derpy interrupted. "They did their tests, it seems my condition is….aggressive, and progressive. There will be medication, but the prognosis isn't good.. may I be alone mother?" Derpy asked half heartedly, her way of telling her mother she wished to be alone. The mother mare knew better to argue, so she nodded and turned, heading home on her own.

Derpy stood there outside the hospital and closed her eyes, feeling the wind blow over her face, her hooves digging into the earth below her, clearing her mind of any and all distractions, and then suddenly. Her eyes opened, and she stared off into the middle distance, her eyes slowly moving every close to each other and a single thought formed in her mind. She really was craving a muffin.


	2. Chapter 2

"Miss Hooves, I am sorry but there is nothing we can further do for you…" Derpy sat before the large desk of the university representative, her eyes trailing over the top of it. She heard the words, but she ignored them, she simply wanted to revert back into that numb meaningless state of being, but it wasn't always on demand. The counselor kept speaking but even that was drowned out, a ringing in the mares ears began, a swirling ring that was enough pain that the feeling of her heart breaking could be ignored even for a moment.

Derpy walked out of the office, she didn't allow the counselor to continue, or even noticed her bewilderment when she simply grasped her paperwork and stood, turning around without even saying a word. As the door behind her closed shut, she would begin to shake, her lips quivering as the hot streams of silent tears began to pour down her cheeks, She felt her legs give weigh, and she would fall back against the door, her hooves sliding against the tile floor, finally hitting the first nothing left her mouth, a silent cry bleeding out from between her lips. Her front hooves would move upwards pressing against her forehead a long wail exploding from her mouth. She didn't care about creating a scene, a few Mare's walked by cautiously, not sure to make of the scene that was transpiring outside of one of the counselors office. One of the group stopped, she was a mare perhaps a little younger than Derpy herself, she had a light purple coat that shone healthily, and a mane of a darker purple, with a single pink stripe that hung lazily above her eyes. She moved to open her mouth and say something, when a hoof landed on her shoulder and pulled her back, accompanied by whispers that changed the young mares mind, and quickly the group moved on, leaving the mourner to mourn.

Something made Derpy stop for a moment, pulling those hooves from her face, and stopped to look around, lazily dragging her arm across her face, trying to gain composure over the emotion that burst out of her unexpectedly, and against the way she conducted herself in her usual manner. The Pegasus got to her feet, reaching down for her backpack which she grasped with her teeth and flung back on her back, and quickly made her way through the halls, and out the doors of the building standing in the middle of the university. She found herself a moment of peace, and lowered her head, allowing the cool air to flow over her wet face, she found it comforting, something she wouldn't have normally would have otherwise. These were the things she noticed about how she was changing for the most part, empathy, sympathy, small moments of emotion that in the last 2 months since she was diagnosed, were becoming overly apparent. The overbearing evidence for this hit her, she wanted nothing more then to go home, she wanted her mother, she just wanted her comforting presence, something she never appreciated until right that second. Well, if the University was going to pull her tuition from under her because of her condition, then she wanted nothing more to do with them either.

"Eat…" Ditzy said, pleading more then asking or telling. The older Pegasus sat across the table from her daughter, her hooves crossed over the table behind her own uneaten bowl of soup. Being the mother of a genius had certainly not turned out how she had expected, not that she would EVER utter those words to her daughter, but they were true. By now she half expected to be invited to award ceremonies where Derpy would explain some scientific theory she had concocted, or some invention… she had always assumed that her daughters success would raise them out of the two room shack on the outskirts of Ponyville, but things didn't look so good on that subject. It had been almost a month since her daughter returned. Derpy hadn't even wrote to let her know of her arrival, or that her school had turned their back on her disabled daughter….disabled. The word ran through Ditzy's head and she fought the urge to cry, it was something she would never in a thousand years expected her daughter to be categorized as.

"I want to get a job…" Derpy had announced quietly, reaching down and finally dipped down to feed from the bowl, drinking the soup politely. If there was one thing that she missed about the University, it was the cafeteria, though just thinking about the school made her stomach knot, so she forced it from her mind and continued to eat.

Ditzy smiled weakly, trying to support her daughter in every way, but she had to interject. "Derpy, do you think you will be able to…" she stopped herself, trying to reword her concern. " With your condition, it may be hard to find a-" Derpy shook his head, interrupting. "It doesn't matter mother, I WILL find a use for myself…" she would say loudly, and with more emotion then her mother was used to hearing from her daughter, which only made the older Pegasus lower her gaze and give in to her daughter, which she was accustomed to. This time however, she couldn't convince herself she was right. Her daughter was a grown Pegasus, and had to do whatever she felt was right of course.

Ditzy slid from her spot and trotted over near the door, next to it was a small table where the paper sat, she reached down grasping it in her mouth and walking back to the dinner table, and rolled the paper out across the wooden surface, pushing the bowl of soup aside with her nose and looked over the classified section. Times were hard and jobs were tough to come by, the old mares eyes searched over the print. Sweet Apple Acres was looking for some Apple Buckers for the upcoming season, but the mother frowned as she looked up at her daughter, she wasn't a exceptionally strong pony. She also saw the Sugercube Corner was looking for bakers, but her daughter didn't exactly have the baking skills, baking wasn't something that the two did often, and when they did she was a child and only on birthdays and holidays did they make muffins. Then light a shining ray of hope, the mare smiled and looked up at Derpy, who had been reading her mothers expressions for the last minute or so. "Looks like the Post Office is hiring!" Ditzy said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster and slid the paper across the table in front of Derpy.

"Welcome to the Ponyville Post Office!" Derpy said with as much enthusiasm as the Pegasus could muster, but when her eyes caught the visage of the stallion standing before her, her heart skipped slightly. The bronco smiled a dashing grin that the young pony had never encountered before, as a matter of fact, she never felt this way before. "Yes…actually…" The male Unicorn would say as he pushed the package across the counter towards Derpy, "I need this package sent to my sister in Fillydelphia…" He would say, already sorting out the bits he would need to pay for the service.

Derpy reached out and pulled the package closer to herself, nodding in awe as she watched him from the corner of her eye, whilst writing out paperwork. "Of course…" Her gaze would move to the package, looking at the name of the sender. Sterling Silver, she spoke the name in her head over and over as she worked silently and smiled. "How quickly would you like your package to arrive?" Derpy asked, trying her best to seem….charming, but it was one of those things she didn't have lots of practice with. The unicorn thought about it for a moment and shrugged "No hurry, its just some items she left behind in Ponyville…" The unicorn explained, tilting his head as he watched her work. He noted that he had seen this certain Pegasus before on several occasions around town, but she was guarded, and quiet. He never saw her at parties, never saw her with friends.

After a few silent moments, Derpy was done and after she took the bits from him, she would rip a receipt and hand it over. "Ok, Mister…Silver? Your Package is already on its way…" She would say with a smile, taking the package and walking over to a tube that protruded out from the ground, the sound of whooshing air would indicate it was a vacuum tube system, Derpy would confirm this by dropping the package into the tube and it would get sucked away off into the inner workings of the Post Office where it would get sorted for shipping. "Thank you…" Sterling said and bowed his head in thanks, and turned heading for the door.

Something stopped the Bronco however, as he reached the door, his hoof ready to push it open and leave, he would turn his head and waltz back to the counter. "Listen…" he said, trying to be as nonchalant as he could about the matter. "I know I don't know you, but…if your interested would you like to come to a par-" Derpy beamed and immediately answered. "Yes!" The unicorn was taken back a bit but smiled and nodded. "So…this friday? 7:00, two houses down from Town Hall, half of PonyVille will be there, you can't miss it…" He said grinning. Derpy nodded. "Of course! I will see you there!" Sterling simply nodded and smiled. "Good, I will be looking for you….uh…What was your name?" he asked, chuckling slightly embarrassed he never asked. "Derpy…" The pegasus said, to which Sterling simply smiled and repeated "Derpy….I hope to see you there…" With that the Unicorn turned, and exited the post office, leaving Derpy alone in her glee and excitement. She had never felt so much different emotions at once, and for the first time thanked her condition, it gave her the ability to feel…and perhaps more.

Derpy's eyed moved to the clock, counting down the minutes to her lunch break, she smiled to herself, she was going to put her first paycheck to good use, and for lunch buy herself the biggest muffin that Sugercube Corner sold.


End file.
